DUPONT, which has built a US$5bil global business out of an obsession for maintaining the safest workplace, hopes to convince Malaysian firms that running a safe and healthy operation can pay good dividends.
Its Managing Director in Malaysia Dr A. Hapiz Abdullah said the provision of safety consultancy services could be its fastest growing business in Malaysia.
But the task of convincing local companies would be the key. “It is a major challenge when so many of them, especially SMIs (Small-and medium –scaled industries). Do not see the real cost of not maintaining a safe environment, “ He told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
The Fortune 500 company with worldwide revenue of US27 billion last year is better known in Malaysia for the sale of agricultural chemicals, and has an operational headquarters as well as regional research and development and training facilities, but safety is a new business here.
DuPont, which was chosen as one of the safest companies in America last year, has safety as business value.
Hapiz said that given Malaysia’s development the increased emphasis on safety should be a natural progression for many companies.
“Not only is safety the right thing to do, it produces business values as well. Safety increases productivity, lowers cost and is a catalyst for achieving excellence in business,” he said.
Based on data from SOCSO, two people die and 221 are injured at work everyday, with manufacturing sector accounting for nearly half of the accidents, SOCSO pays out about RM700mil annually in compensation.
DuPont Safety Resources president (Asia-Pacific) Roger Moore said that this was a “tremendous economic cost” to the companies involved and the country as a whole.
Likening it to an iceberg, Moore said the hidden cost of injuries could be far larger than the more obvious medical fees and wage indemnity.
“The indirect costs in Malaysia could be ten times larger than direct ones,” he said, pointing to lost production days, process interruptions and yield losses, litigation, extra overtime, damaged customer relations and public image, and damaged equipment and goods as examples.
“Safety improves business performance and increases productivity while decreased operating cost. The rewards extends well beyond safety”, he said
